Gravity
by Crimson-Pen531
Summary: The Elric brothers know it's a long road ahead of them, but they have to keep going if they're ever going to get their bodies back. Very short oneshot.


Looking out over the vast desert land, Edward Elric tried to remember how he had gotten here. Sure, he _remembered_ how he'd gotten to the desert, but he was finding it harder and harder to recollect exactly what had made him start this journey in the first place. After all, what had he been thinking leaving home like that with nothing but the clothes on his back and his little brother by his side?

If he had bothered to ask Alphonse, he might have received the answer he was looking for. When the two Elric boys burned their home to the ground and left Rizembool seemingly forever, they had a very distinct purpose: to find the Philosopher's Stone and renew their bodies to normal, and if they were feeling brave enough, perhaps bring their mother back from the dead.

Of course, they had been more than encouraged by the words of, at that time, the one known as Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. He seemed to have more than enough faith that they would find exactly what they were looking for, but everyone else had their doubts, that is, everyone else who actually knew what was going on.

So many times, they had been told that there was nothing out there for them to find, that the Philosopher's Stone was just a myth. They had heard the stories. They knew that every alchemist who had ever searched for the secret of the Stone had either given up or had been driven insane. There was more than enough evidence to suggest that the Elrics would fail, but still they soldiered forth, determined to succeed.

_I left home when I was seventeen_

_I just grew tired of falling down_

_And I'm sure I was told_

_The allure of the road_

_Would be all I found_

They had been so sure of themselves when they had first started out, so positive that they would reach their true goal. Ed tried not to scoff as he remembered their childish naïveté, thinking that they had known all the answers. They had been so young and yet so resolute that they were sure they knew everything they had to know to find or create a real Philosopher's Stone.

It was funny, thinking back. They had learned so much over these past few years, and yet it really only raised more questions in both of their minds. All those answers that they thought they had, had all at once become difficulties in their search.

Alphonse finally looked up from staring down at his feet and realized that there was still a miles-long stretch of desert to go before they even got close to the town that they could see in the distance. It never ended. The path just seemed to go on and on, almost as long and infinite as the beautiful blue sky above them. Normally, he would have taken the time to stop and silently muse about such a beautiful scene, but he was far too burdened to even consider it at a time like this.

_And all the answers that I started with_

_Turned out questions in the end_

_So the years roll on by_

_And just like the sky_

_The road never ends_

So many times, Winry and Pinako had asked the boys when they thought they might return to Rizembool. After all, wasn't that really the only appropriate thing to do? There, in that little town, they had people who loved and cared about them. Why on earth would they waste all their time being dogs for the military if they could have just as fulfilling a life in the same little place where they had always grown up?

"You two worry me!" Winry would shout at Ed whenever she spoke to him. "I feel like I'm never going to see you again, and you never even let me know what's going on! What if something bad happened to you or Alphonse, Edward? I wouldn't be able to get to you! I wouldn't even know! Please, can't you come back soon?"

Ed would always just sigh deeply and reply, "Winry, we can't come home until we've found what we're looking for. As long as there's a possibility of finding a Philosopher's Stone, we're going to keep going. I know it isn't easy, but what else can we do? I promised Al I would get his body back for him, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Until then, we soldier on."

The small State Alchemist considered this as he marched on through the hot sun, and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of anger that Al couldn't sense this heat and torment. But then a new resolution was built up within him as he realized that someday, Alphonse _would_ feel warmth and frost again. Someday he'd be able to eat and smell and touch again. And until they located a Philosopher's Stone, they'd continue down these long roads that the gods handed them.

_And the people who love me still ask me_

_When are you coming back to town_

_And I answer quite frankly_

_When they stop building roads_

_And all God needs is gravity to hold me down_


End file.
